Chapter 90: Some Things Cannot Be Learned

"Comrade Ziyang is too polite; knowing you came empty-handed, you even performed a nose-water-spraying stunt to liven up the atmosphere."

Yang Tianxing mocked him without showing any mercy.

As for Shao Ziyang, he wasn't exactly handsome, and he was a bit of a superficial person, specifically manifesting in:

When facing girls with ordinary looks, he was very confident, talking eloquently and pointing out the world.

If he encountered an optimistic, cheerful, or exceptionally beautiful girl, he would be too nervous to speak.

He was like this back in high school; Shao Ziyang would blush when speaking in front of Tan Zhizhi, but in front of those quiet and introverted girls, he could always show off a bit.

Just now, Liu Jiaoyue had her head down, and Shao Ziyang thought she was just a background character, but after seeing Liu Jiaoyue's appearance clearly, Shao Ziyang felt uncomfortable all over again.

Yang Tianxing curled the corner of his mouth into a smile from the side: "Her name is Liu Jiaoyue; this is the person I wanted to bring you to meet."

"Ah, ah, ah..."

Shao Ziyang hummed and hawed for a long time, then stammered: "Th-that, I'm Little Yang's childhood friend; we've known each other since before we were born."

Yang Tianxing glanced at him: "Are you Nezha? How could we have known each other before you were even born?"

"N-no, not that."

Shao Ziyang's neck turned bright red: "We knew each other shortly after we were born; we're good friends who grew up playing together."

Liu Jiaoyue felt a bit strange inside, but she was too embarrassed to laugh; she gave a soft "Mm" and silently lowered her head to calculate accounts again.

Shao Ziyang took the opportunity to pull Yang Tianxing, signaling for the two of them to talk outside.

"You son of a bitch, you always like to watch me make a fool of myself."

Shao Ziyang said angrily.

Yang Tianxing chuckled: "She's not an outsider, don't take it to heart."

"Not an outsider..."

Shao Ziyang repeated it in his mouth, then pressed the thumbs of his left and right hands together: "Are you two this now?"

Yang Tianxing shook his head: "It hasn't reached that point yet."

Facing Shao Ziyang, Yang Tianxing didn't intend to lie, because Liu Jiaoyue would need Shao Ziyang to act as a corroborating witness when she went home, and there would be no shortage of opportunities for him to provide cover in the future.

"Then what about Little Zhizhi?" Shao Ziyang asked again.

Yang Tianxing shrugged and didn't answer.

Shao Ziyang suddenly felt that this best friend was going a bit too far; how could he have one foot in two boats?

"Little Yang, let's have a serious talk."

With the intention of genuinely looking out for his good friend, Shao Ziyang decided to offer some advice.

Liu Jiaoyue was indeed a peerless beauty, but Tan Zhizhi was also a top-tier beauty; they were six of one and half a dozen of the other.

Yang Tianxing knew what Shao Ziyang was going to say and spoke first: "This time we're going to Chuan-Yu, we'll stop by Liu Jiaoyue's house to take a look."

"And then?"

Shao Ziyang didn't understand for a moment.

"Liu Jiaoyue has a cousin who looks just like her; if you stop talking nonsense, I'll introduce you when the time comes. If you feel your conscience can't take it, you can stay the night today and go back to Jinzhou by yourself tomorrow."

Yang Tianxing was bullshitting again; he really didn't want to listen to Shao Ziyang's stuttering lectures.

As for what to do if Liu Jiaoyue didn't have a cousin when the time came? He could just find some excuse to brush it off, like saying the cousin wasn't back in their hometown for the New Year.

Shao Ziyang stood there blankly for a while, turned his head to look at Liu Jiaoyue, then looked at Yang Tianxing, scratched his head and said: "Actually, it doesn't matter if she's a cousin or not; it's mainly that I want to see the cultural scenery of Chuan-Yu."

Yang Tianxing laughed, handed him a cigarette, and while the two were puffing away, Liu Jiaoyue came over to quietly say goodbye.

"Not eating together tonight?"

Shao Ziyang was a bit puzzled.

"No, I'm going to find Little Zhizhi to eat tonight."

Yang Tianxing drew a horizontal line in the air and explained vividly: "Do you know why a scale is stable? It's because the two ends are always balanced. I'll be with Liu Jiaoyue for the next few days, so I need to spend more time with Little Zhizhi now to keep both ends balanced so I don't flip the boat."

Shao Ziyang watched Yang Tianxing's skillful control techniques and realized something: "That's actually really tiring too; clearly a triangle is the most stable."

Yang Tianxing looked at Shao Ziyang with some surprise, and only when he had made him feel uncomfortable did Yang Tianxing pat Shao Ziyang on the shoulder: "I didn't expect you, kid, to be one of my own kind."

……………

Dinner was eaten at the Jiaotong University cafeteria. While eating, Tan Zhizhi instructed Yang Tianxing to wake up early tomorrow and pack his luggage, as her father would come to pick them up.

Yang Tianxing pretended to eat heartily and didn't hear her. Shao Ziyang felt very guilty, feeling as if he had also betrayed Little Zhizhi, so he just kept his head down and didn't speak.

"But there will be more people tomorrow; Hu Jiaohao called to say he wants a ride, and Liwen and Xiaowan are coming too."

Tan Zhizhi said with a frown.

Fu Liwen and Ding Xiaowan were high school classmates. Yang Tianxing was definitely indifferent; he wouldn't be sitting there tomorrow anyway: "It's fine, it's winter, we'll be warm if we squeeze in."

Tan Zhizhi smiled sweetly: "Then let's sit in the back together when the time comes, and give the front seats to others."

Shao Ziyang lowered his head and glanced at Yang Tianxing, wanting to see how he would answer, but didn't expect Yang Tianxing to neither agree nor deny it.

"Whatever you say goes."

Listening to Yang Tianxing's ambiguous answer, Shao Ziyang shook his head helplessly. Not to mention being at a place like the University of Finance and Economics, which was rich in resources and full of beauties, even at his own University of Technology, a monk school, Yang Tianxing probably wouldn't be lonely.

Tan Zhizhi had an exam tomorrow morning, so she went to study after eating. She thought there would be plenty of time to be together after the exam tomorrow.

Yang Tianxing and Shao Ziyang walked back to the dormitory at the Finance Institute. Everyone else in 312 had left, so there were plenty of beds to sleep in.

"Little Yang, the two schools aren't far apart; aren't you worried about problems arising?"

Shao Ziyang really wanted to know the gossip behind this question.

"How could I not be worried? There are quite a few problems."

Yang Tianxing picked a few things to talk about to satisfy Shao Ziyang's curiosity.

"One afternoon, Little Zhizhi said she saw a girl wearing the same royal blue down jacket at Hejiaying, and I was so scared my sleepiness vanished."

…………

"There is a document about me on Xiao Zhiliao's computer desktop. I don't know why I lent the computer to Liu Jiaoyue to practice Excel. In the end, after repeatedly verifying and fishing for information, I finally confirmed that Liu Jiaoyue hadn't read that diary; otherwise, she definitely would have exploded."

………

"Last month on Christmas Eve, I ate two hot pot meals. Now, just seeing hot pot makes me feel sick enough to vomit."

…………

As they chatted, the topic veered toward starting a business. Yang Tianxing recounted in detail how he met Zhang Liye, how he coordinated the startup base, and how he expanded his reputation among the surrounding schools.

Yang Tianxing's voice grew quieter and quieter, until finally, only the sound of snoring could be heard.

Shao Ziyang, however, could not fall asleep no matter what. It wasn't because he was being pretentious about his bed, but because he remembered when he used to argue with his mother, she would mention how promising some other family's child was, and once, she even mentioned Yang Tianxing.

Shao Ziyang had been very unconvinced at the time: "Little Yang's grades aren't even as good as mine!"

His mother sneered: "Jinzhou is only this big a place; do you think we parents don't know about the things going on in school?"

"You hang out with Yang Tianxing all day long, haven't you noticed his strengths?"

"I'm telling you, even if Yang Tianxing went to a second-tier or third-tier university, or even a vocational college, he would still be able to make something of himself."

Sure enough, the adults' judgment hadn't been off at all. After starting university, Shao Ziyang was just one of the masses of students, while Yang Tianxing had already become a prominent figure in his freshman year.

"How am I supposed to learn? Some things just can't be learned."

Shao Ziyang turned over and thought silently to himself.